BOSTON | James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston gangster who spent 16 years as one of America’s most wanted men, died in federal prison. He was 89.
Bulger was found unresponsive Tuesday morning at the U.S. penitentiary in West Virginia where he had recently been transferred. A medical examiner declared him dead shortly afterward, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death but said the FBI was notified and is investigating.
Bulger, who served as the model for Jack Nicholson’s iconic crime boss in the 2006 Martin Scorsese movie, “The Departed,” led a primarily Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets. He also served as an FBI informant who ratted on the New England mob, his gang’s main rival, in an era when bringing down the Mafia was a top national priority for the FBI.
Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 after his FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., warned him he was about to be indicted. With a $2 million reward on his head, Bulger became one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” criminals, with a place just below Osama bin Laden.
